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| Greetings! |
 I have a confession to make. My heart isn't here; it's in Guatemala. It is difficult to come back to the States and go back to the normal routine of e-mails, phone calls, meetings, and office work knowing that so many children whom you love continue to exist in neglect.
We have just returned from an eight day Guatemala ministry trip during which we ministered to the children of Hermano Pedro hospital. Our team of seven loved children who desperately needed the attention and helped them escape their drab worlds of cribs and wards. In addition we provided some much needed man power for a wonderful Christian orphanage called Los Gozosos.
The beautiful reality is that we can make a difference! Each team we
lead brings love, joy, stimulation, and play into these children's
lives. And each person who chooses to join our teams provides one more
set of arms to hold and hug and one more heart to love.
In this issue of our newsletter we want you to get a taste of our experiences and come to know, at least a little, some of the precious children we have come to love. And we also want to invite you to join us on one of our upcoming trips so you can know them first-hand. Don't miss this opportunity to be changed forever!
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Bringing Life and Love to Hermano Pedro
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 The majority of our team's time was spent at Hermano Pedro. In past issues, you have heard me write about the conditions there and the need for workers to go in and release these children from their cages. These are wonderful children who are waiting for someone to come and treat them like the treasures they are.
The following is an excerpt of my blog while we were there: Once again, I want you to understand the typical
child's day at Hermano Pedro. They are awakened at around 6:00 am for
baths followed by breakfast followed by a few short hours in
wheelchairs, hopefully in the courtyard if the weather is warm enough.
Then, it is time for lunch at noon. When they are done eating, the
staff will place the kids back in their beds for the rest of the day.  This
is particularly frustrating when you are there to love the kids and
give them an alternative to their normal existence. As we were there
holding and playing with the children the nurses began to come and
insist that we put them to bed for "naps." This nap is in addition to
the 13 hours of sleep they receive from 5:00 pm until 6:00 am and the
additional hours they sleep because they are sedated during the day.
Further, they insist that we put the children down for these naps even
if they are sleeping peacefully in our arms.
So,
our team quietly rebelled. The children were placed in their beds and,
one by one, we would slip into their cribs, quietly remove them, place
them in their wheelchairs, and break them out of their prison. While we
are here, we have decided to fight for their freedom in every way
possible. This afternoon we enjoyed another four hours of freedom with
about 15 children whom we liberated from their cages.
 By the end of our second day there our team could walk into the wards and children would turn to the sound of our voices, many of them smiling or even squealing with delight as we approached their cribs. We had become their best friends, and they ours.
The greatest difficulty of these trips is the goodbyes. As we place the children back in their cribs, kiss them, and walk away we wonder when they will next be held again. This feeds our passion to lead more teams in to care for these precious little ones.
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Los Gozosos - Becoming Family to Orphans
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 Our team spent two days at Los Gozosos Orphanage in Chimaltenango. Los Gozosos means "the joyful ones" and it is the perfect name for this ministry. Like Hermano Pedro, they care for children with severe special needs, but they do it much better. Their facilities are spartan and in need of repair, but they more than make up for that in the family atmosphere and love they provide the children.
The children are nurtured, educated, and stimulated, and they are treated with respect and dignity. It is a Christ-centered atmosphere that involves prayer, Bible study, and worship. And their facility radiates joy to all who enter.
 Our team provided some much needed manpower to prepare for a garden by removing vines and weeds from their courtyard. We also helped with their ongoing project of raising the heights of their walls to guard against theft. Daryl even mowed their entire yard with a Weed Eater...quite a time consuming endeavor!
Los Gozosos depends on the generosity of the church to care for these children. Caring for and education children with special needs is an expensive endeavor. Currently their facility needs repairs and upgrades and money is tight. You can read more about Los Gozosos and find out how to help by visiting their Web site at http://www.webwizardry.net/~losgozosos/Los%20Gozosos/Welcome.html.
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Pray for Delmi |
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 Normally we like to highlight a child who is eligible for adoption for whom you can pray. This month we are instead highlighting Delmi, a young lady at Hermano Pedro who is unavailable. Delmi is 15 years old and receives very little attention and affection, even from the outside teams who come to help. She is not the cutest of girls from a human perspective, but she is precious with a wonderful smile when she has reason to smile.
Please pray for Delmi. Pray that those around her will see her beauty and fall in love with her as Daryl has. And pray that she will somehow be able to escape the prison that is Hermano Pedro.
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We Need You to Join Our Team!
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 We need several more team members for our team that will be ministering in Guatemala from October 31 to November 8. The cost of the trip is $1550.00 and includes airfare, motel, food, in-country transportation, and translator. You will have the opportunity to be the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus to a group of children who desperately need Him.
For more information and to download registration forms for this trip and the February 2010 trip please click here.
You will change lives...
...including your own!
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Experience More of Guatemala Through Daryl's Blog
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 Read more about our team's trip and Daryl's insights at his blog and find links to other blogs that will challenge and change you!
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Daryl Fulp,
Director
Hope for Home Ministries
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